Gregory Goyle and the Council of Twelve
by gorrthebisexualboy
Summary: Gregory Goyle, ashamed about the choices he's had to make, has immigrated to America six years after the battle of Hogwarts. He finds a ragtag group of teenagers, half of whom aren't even magic, and discovers an evil greater than Voldemort could ever dream of becoming.
1. Chapter 1

The fall of Voldemort left many confused and feeling abandoned. My name is Gregory Goyle. And this is my story after Halloween 1993, the day Voldemort died.

After Crabbe died, there was nothing left for me in England. Besides, my father is a confirmed Death Eater, so it was only a matter of time before they try to find me for questioning. That was a huge endorsement of my immigration to America.

I was surprised how easy it was to get on a ferry. Half of the Wizarding security there was on Voldemort's payroll. It was absolute chaos. I managed to sneak on a ferry and wound up in America.

I found some, well, not friends, but familiar people. The one I like the most Griphook, a runaway goblin that broke into Gringotts with Harry and his amigos. He was a rebel of sorts, and I liked people like that.

There's also this nerd type named Xenophilius. Since I can barely pronounce that, much less type it, I'm going to call him Phil. Is that a problem? I didn't think it would be.

Phil's got a daughter named Luna. She's kind of cute I guess, but she's got an obsession with Crumpled Horned Snorkacks, which probably don't exist. I saw her around Hogwarts. If my memory serves me correctly, I think she was a Ravenclaw. Her unique observations make her rather entertaining.

Hagrid also was on the ferry. Because I'm so… hefty, Hagrid is one of the few people who can pose as my father without people raising eyebrows.

Fang is one of the few things in this universe I have actual, real affection for. He acts like a puppy even though Hagrid tells me that Fang is actually almost two hundred years old. Fang is descended from the legendary dog Cerberus, which essentially means Fang can't die.

We didn't have a lot of Muggle money. Or Nomag money, whatever you want to call them. We pooled our Nomag money and managed to rent out a medium sized apartment. For, three people, a half giant, a goblin, and a wolf, an average sized apartment was only a temporary situation. Things will get better. Or at least they'll get a lot weirder. As long as I get out of this apartment.

''ey Goyle. Yer gun eat tha' er not?" asked Hagrid, pointing to the runny scrambled eggs on my plate. Phil was the closest thing we had to a chef in this apartment, and even then, he won't be on Top Chef anytime soon.

"All yours" I said. I punctuated the sentence with a chuckle, even if the situation wasn't necessarily that funny.

I was very surprised how quickly Hagrid had warmed up to me, especially since I had almost gotten him fired seven years ago. It was easy to pretend that Hagrid was my father, because my real dad was never really around and Hagrid just kind of had that "it's easy to like me" vibe. It's a shame I hadn't realized that until now.

Hagrid devoured my eggs with a passion as I evaluated my orange juice to see if it had pulp in it. I'm sorry, but I hate pulp as much as I hate Granger

Phil and Griphook didn't really know about me until we met on that ferry. As far they know I was a Gryffindor who helped the underage student evacuate Hogwarts when Voldemort showed up.

Phil bustled past my chair in a suit and briefcase. Phil is a children's author now, writing about magical "fictional" creature like unicorns and lethifolds and such. He was rather wealthy. At the rate he was making money, we should be out of this apartment by the end of the month.

Hagrid called after Phil "'ey! Be sure ta write 'bout Nobert!"

I remember Nobert from my first year. I never saw Nobert myself, but Draco wouldn't stop talking about it for months. I half-thought that Draco was just messing with us, and I didn't realize that he wasn't until about two weeks ago when Hagrid mentioned something about it at dinner.

Griphook was taking care of most things on the Wizarding currency side of things. Right now he's trying to make a Gringotts app so he can help his fellow goblin kind without stepping foot in London again. Y'see, the only reason Griphook stuck around with us was because he was exiled from England. If he returned, the goblin queen, Riis, promised him death.

Justin Timberlake music started to blare from the bedroom I had to share with Luna. I feel bad for Luna, now that I know her better. I hear her tossing and turning above me (we have a bunk bed that Griphook and Hagrid built) and muttering in her sleep. Something about the Carrows. A dagger of guilt wrenches itself in my chest every time that happens. Not because I'm the one who tortured her, but I've done the same thing to Neville and Seamus.

Yeah, life isn't perfect. That's the price of being a Slytherin I suppose.

Fang looked up at me expectantly. "Phil!" I yelled "We need more eggs!"

At the sound of his own nickname, Phil jumped a little bit. He quickly regained his composure and said "Goyle, I have to go," in a rather stern voice. I decided to let his little 'disappointed dad' act slide.

My bedroom door swung open and I cringed. Her hair looked like a bird had just laid some eggs in it. A weird red stain was making its way down her shirt. I guessed either she spilled her red paint or she accidently killed my flobberworm. Again.

"What'd you do to Fred 3?" I asked instantly, assuming the latter.

"Nothing!" yelled Luna exasperatedly "The guy upstairs dumped some kind of jelly on me"

Our upstairs neighbor, Volkner, is a prankster of sorts. He's a cool guy, most of the time. It's just Luna's coming out of her shell, and she doesn't understand pranks yet. She thinks Volkner just dumped jam on her because he hates her, although I think he feels the exact opposite way.

Now, I don't think Volkner understands the ways of flirting either. If you want a girlfriend, you got to tell her that she's pretty, or even that she changed your life. I don't think pranks, no matter how well orchestrated they are, will get you very far with a majority of women.

I should tell Volkner that. Preferably with Hagrid behind me, cracking his knuckles and grinning.

Phil chose now to abandon his daughter and slip out of the door. Luckily, Griphook had a rare moment of kindness and tossed Luna a towel from the kitchen. Luna is the only one of us Griphook actually likes.

I need to get used to having a goblin in the home. The closest thing I had to a goblin was a parakeet named Ace and a house-elf named Razorback (he got too close to a gnarl when he was young and got some spines in the back. Razorback is just a nickname, his real name is Dave)

Luna wiped off her shirt and tossed the towel back to Griphook, but the towel found my face. Hagrid snorted, trying to hide his amusement, but Luna and Griphook laughed openly. Fang, however, looked disappointed because the towel on my face will not result in eggs for him.

I felt my mood drop from one hundred to zero (real quick). I drew my chair out and followed Phil's path out the door. If there were any requests for me to return to the table, I didn't hear them.

I was always on the sensitive side. I mean you wouldn't guess it by looking at me, being 6'4 and well over two hundred pounds, but I hate being embarrassed. I guess that's why I fell in with Malfoy and Crabbe. We were the ones doing the embarrassing. It felt better than I'd like to admit. I wanted out, but by the time I came to the realization, Quirrell had already taken off his turban. If I had left Malfoy and Crabbe then, it'd look like I was joining the Order

I was wrong, but I'm trying to be better.

The apartment door creaked open behind me, and a felt a small, cold hand lower itself onto my shoulder. This hand was way too small to be Hagrid's and had too many fingers to be Griphook's. This is either Luna's hand for Fang's a shape shifter.

I didn't say anything, so Luna took it upon herself to start the conversation. "Are you okay?" she asked "I was alarmed when you reacted that way. Normally you're fine when things like that happen"

"You thought I was going to be okay when things like that happen to me every other day?"

"I've been hearing Dad talk about all kinds of Nomag diseases"

I cut across Luna, "Get to the point"

Luna ignored my objections and plowed onward, "One of these Nomag diseases causes sadness, and it can cause you to hurt yourself. It's called depression and I think you might have it"


	2. Chapter 2

I laughed. Ever since Phil had started talking about Nomag diseases, Luna had been diagnosing everyone. Hagrid apparently had Ebola. "Just because I get kind of sad after you hit me in the face with a towel, you think I have depression?" I asked in disbelief. "The episode you just had showed all the symptoms of it. Sadness without crying. A tendency to be alone." Luna pressed on "Besides, Crabbe's death is still hurting you. Everyone but Fang can see that." Affection for Luna exploded inside of me. Even if she was just overreacting to my habit of distancing myself, I noted something about Luna I hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe Luna didn't fully trust me, why would she? But at least she cared about my well-being. I spread my arms and enveloped Luna in a hug. I felt Luna's short arms try to reach around my torso, but she couldn't. For some reason, she didn't let go for about ten seconds. The only reason I let go was I heard the door across the way open. "Hey, Goyle!" said Graynoldus brightly. Graynoldus is quite the character. For one, he's a Nomag, but he saw Griphook about six months ago, and we had to explain most of the Wizarding world to him. It turns out, Graynoldus' father is actually the Dark Wizard Grindelwald. Grindelwald kept Graynoldus in the dark about his "job" Luna jumped, but I grinned. Graynoldus was a standup comedian and the pub I worked at. Aren't pubs called bars in America? Ok, so he's a comedian at the BAR I work at. Graynoldus made fun of his own problem and shortcomings. I'm a little jealous at how easily he could do that. Luna turned toward Graynoldus and scowled. "Oh, did I make you mad or something, ma'am?" asked Graynoldus worriedly. Graynoldus was a people pleaser. He normally puts other people's needs over his own. Yet another thing I was jealous of. After Luna didn't give him an answer, Graynoldus turned toward me "You hear what happened to Tiktun?" Tiktun is a valley giant, which are essentially almost identical to the mountain giants which allied themselves with Voldemort. The biggest difference was their intelligence. Valley giants are smart enough to occasionally use magic wands. I was mildly surprised when Luna responded. "Tiktun is dead. I read it in the Oracle a few minutes ago" Graynoldus jumped on Luna's response. "How long is this going to on, man?!" Graynoldus liked giants. He went on vacation once and met one named Encleadus. They became fast friends. They get together in Central Park every once in awhile. Luna's mood did not improve around dinnertime. I guess Volkner's prank really upset Luna. Or maybe it had something to do with Graynoldus' sudden appearance. I slid two sodas down the counter to early tennagers. They looked no older than fourth years (fourteen years old). I watched Graynoldus walk across the restaurant toward me. He wore his dubbed Performer's Suit, which was actually just a black t shirt, black khakis, and a duster. He looks like Western movie antagonist. "What was up with your girlfriend this morning?" Graynoldus asked me, too loudly for my taste. "She's not my girlfriend" I objected "She's just my roommate" Graynoldus got a wicked smile on his face "Do you two sleep in the same bed" "Well technical-" Graynoldus cut me off "Then you're dating her". I decided not to pursue and argument. I learned that pursuing an argument with Graynoldus, or any comedian for that matter, rarely ends well for me. They just make a joke off point I try to make. I've noticed that Graynoldus is extraordinarily young to live alone. He was probably not much older than the girls I just slid root beers to a minute ago. "Hey, Gregory?" The sound of my first name made me flinch a little. A man was running from the southern end of the restaurant. This name was my boss, Tereschuk. Tereschuk was a man probably in his lower sixties. He rode his bike everywhere, so he was in good shape and had a nice tan. In short, he was the man your grandmother wishes she married. "Hey, I hate to do this to you, but Atalanta is currently losing her lunch as we speak." Tereschuk paused for a moment and sniffed "She's also losing her breakfast" I'm not sure is Tereschuk was joking or not. Quite frankly, I don't want to know. Tereschuk shook his head, as if organizing his thoughts. "What I wanted to ask you is if you could cover Atalanta's shift tonight?" I shrugged indifferently "Yeah. No problem, I got nothing going on" Tereschuk rewarded me with a smile and strode back to his office. Atalanta worked from seven o'clock to midnight, which was a lot later than I normally get home. I texted Hagrid and Luna and let them know what was happening, so they wouldn't get too worried. Hagrid got back to me after only thirty seconds. "Okay, see you tomorrow." Luna's response was very surprising; "Do you want me to head over? My shift at Barnes and Noble is almost over". I texted her back "I'd appreciate that, see you soon" I smiled to myself. Luna makes me happy and I can't exactly pinpoint why. It's confusing. "Hey, you" My blood chilled. I haven't heard that voice in almost six years. I turned toward the voice's source and saw a translucent version of Crabbe.

"You're dead" I said bluntly. Now, unlike Crabbe, I like to think that I'm not stupid. This Crabbe was either the result of a morbid prank Volkner was playing or I was hallucinating. " You're losing your way" said Crabbe, completely ignoring what I said. "I mean look around. Your boss Tereschuk is a Muggle, but you still depend on him" "Tereschuk is more of a man than we'll ever be" I spat "Listen to you!" yelled Crabbe "What happened to the Goyle I knew in Hogwarts" "He became better" I said. Atalanta slapped my back "Dude, there's no one there" she said in her deep, soothing voice "Are you okay?" I decided to give Atalanta the truth "I'm not completely sure" "Alright" said Atalanta with more than a hint of scepticism in her voice. I don't know Atalanta hat well, and she was probably a Nomag who knew nothing about the the ways of wizards and witches and the terrorist organization that I had joined. Sure, it was under duress, but who would believe that? I barely believe it myself. Graynoldus had just started his weekly routine. It seemed like a game of handball hadn't gone well for him this week. I was only slightly aware of the two girls I gave sodas to wolf whistling at Graynoldus. He was blushing a bit, but he plowed onward with his routine. The only thing that was on my mind was Luna's arrival. I was absentmindedly organizing the adult drinks from the drinks okay for everyone. Tereschuk made sure his bar was slightly more family friendly than all the other dingy bars nearby. It was good for business. I thought about Crabbe. I had changed. If Voldemort attacked Hogwarts today, I was fairly certain I would stay behind I fight out the Death Eaters. Around ten o'clock, the door swung open and Luna came in. I saw some of Graynoldus' audience member give Luna looks I wasn't exactly comfortable with. "Hey Goyle!" said Luna excitedly. And loudly. Graynoldus' eyes flicked from the two girls flirting with him, to Luna, to me, and back to the girls over the span of half a second. I shook my head and smiled. I would hear from Graynoldus about Luna's appearance later. I had no doubt about it. I waved her over and slid her a Sprite. I saw there was a bruise on her cheek and grimaced. "Rough day?" "Some guy really wanted to purchase a copy of Wimpy Kid so he went ahead and slapped my face with it" I chuckled and immediately felt bad for it. "I'm sorry, but aren't Diary of a Wimpy Kid book like nine bucks?" Luna snapped open her Sprite can and chugged about half of it. "Eight ninety-nine" I noticed the bar was a little dirty so I took out my cleaning towel and started to wipe it down. Well, it wasn't really a cleaning towel; Tereschuk just called it that. It was just a sordid rag. I was so busy with cleaning and listening to Graynoldus' routine that I didn't notice Crabbe's return. "Flirting with Looney Lovegood?" asked Crabbe. I ignored him. I was about eighty-five percent sure that Crabbe was some form of guilt-fueled illusion. Luna turned the bottom of her can to roof and drained what was left of her Sprite. "I heard there's a form of Quidditch around the corner that Nomags play called high school football" she said. Still discounting Crabbe, I said "Oh, yeah! Graynoldus said something about that. It's supposed to be really fun, but I'd rather be at a Quidditch game" Luna seesawed her head, like she was considering something. "Who knows? Maybe high school football will be more entertaining" I grinned "Yeah, especially because it won't be everyone booing Slytherin when we win" Luna opened her mouth in mild shock "I didn't realize it was like that" I started to get a little defensive "Yeah, whenever we were playing, everyone seemed to want the other team to win, whether we're playing Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor, everyone wanted them to win. The most applause we got was from the teachers, and even then they were just being polite. Everyone but Snape, at least." Luna didn't respond, and ran a hand through her hair, obviously deeply curious, possibly even a little hurt at what a just said.I felt a little bit of remorse for making her feel this way, but I didn't act on it. I noticed the sounds of the bar had quieted a lot. Graynoldus' routine had probably come to a close. I saw Graynoldus talking to the two girls that were either flirting with him or heckling my opinion it was a little bit of both. Most of the other customers were having quiet conversations or just staring at each other. Luna lifted her Sprite can and shook it to see if there was anything left; there wasn't. She looked away from me toward the restrooms and said something I didn't catch. "What was that?" I asked. Luna looked at me shyly and said so quietly it was a wonder I heard her at all "Do you, maybe, want to go to the high school football game on Friday" "Is this a date?" I asked amused Luna shifted her weight from foot to foot and reached for another Sprite, which I gave to her. "It's a date" she finally confirmed. I raised an eyebrow "Dating a Slytherin? Your father won't be happy" Luna looked like she'd been over this in her head a couple dozen times. Luna opened her mouth to say something, but Graynoldus interrupted her from the stage. "Hey, Goyle!" he yelled "Karaoke night!" "Goyle!" said Luna in pleasant surprise "I didn't know you sing" "I don't" Actually, I do, but Luna doesn't have to know that. Of course Graynoldus, the little scamp, started to play some James Arthur music. It's an impulse for me at this point in my life to sing along to Mr. Arthur's music. And Pentatonix, but that's not who Graynoldus chose for me today. Graynoldus started to take it upon himself to get me on the stage. He started to make a complete fool of himself, making erratic movements that I suppose a hobo could call dancing. "Are you sure you don't sing?" asked Luna suspiciously. I don't think she was buying my lie. "HOW MANY OF YOU WANT GREGORY GOYLE TO GET UP HERE AND SING HIS HEART OUT?!" screamed Tereschuk. Oh, great. Graynoldus I could ignore, but Tereschuk was my boss. If I didn't sing, I might get demoted, which is a risk I'm not willing to take. I reluctantly got on the stage amidst loud applause. I saw Luna look at me curiously from the bar. Tereschuk clapped my back and whispered in my ear" Ah, young love". I decided not to tell Tereschuk that Luna was just my friend. "Any requests?" shouted our resident dj, Dj Jeneration. "Put on I Am" I shouted back. Jeneration adjusted a few knobs and my favorite started to blare out. At first I was staying still, almost by the looks in the audience, they were receiving my baritone voice rather well. I started to move my body up and down. I barely noticed Crabbe vaporize into thin air. The audience, thank goodness, started to clap along. I felt emboldened by their support and started to dance. I was never really the best dancer, but neither I nor the audience seemed to care. Unfortunately, the song was almost over. . The final chords of the song rang out, and the bar exploded with applause. Unfortunately, it didn't actually explode, which would've been super cool. A chant started up: "GOY-LE! GOY-LE" I walked toward the bar and heard Luna gush "That was super good" The man who went next looked oddly familiar. He sang some kind of Skillet song. "Do you recognize him? He looks familiar but I can't pinpoint why." I whispered Luna. "He should look familiar "Luna whispered back "That's Percy Weasley"

That sentence floored me. I'm not sure why all these British wizards are coming to America, but someone else from my past had returned. I have to extremely lucky to have Percy not recognize me, but I'm not exactly the luckiest man alive, even if I do have a date with Luna in two days (it's Wednesday). Percy completed his Skillet-esque song, which gained far less applause than my singing. "A little pitchy" Graynoldus told Percy. Percy smiled good-naturedly "I'll work on it". Jeneration and Graynoldus shared a look that said 'No amount of practice can save his voice' I looked at the clock and saw it was eleven fifty-nine. I figured Tereschuk wouldn't kill me or fire me over forty-five seconds lost, especially because I was technically worked overtime. I clocked out and started to walk home. Luna had a little trouble keeping up because I was in a hurry to get home. "Dad's going to kill me" Luna muttered to herself, "I've never been out his late before" "Why? You're twenty-two. You're of age" I said in minor disbelief. I didn't realize Phil was that kind of parent. "The last time I've been out this late was the Yule Ball" Luna said with a nervous smile. I looked at my watch. It was only twelve o'three. "You've never had a night on the town before?" I asked in disbelief. I flashbacked to the summer between sixth and seventh year, when my family, Crabbe's family, and Malfoy's family had sent us to a small town in America named Wrightwood. And when I say a small town, I mean it. The place was absolutely miniscule. Hogwarts Castle easily tripled Wrightwood in size. Say what you want about Muggles, they sure do know how to have a good time. We tried something called ziplining there. Draco took a good half hour before he was finally convinced he could zipline without plummeting to the ground for a swift death. I also recalled times when Crabbe, Malfoy, and I stayed up until one or two in the morning talking smack about the other Houses. Pangs of guilt hit me like hail balls. I wish I was stronger then. Maybe Malfoy would've seen better ways. Maybe Dumbledore would still be around. I looked around, shaking myself out of my depressive stupor. The streets and sidewalks were barren and empty, other than a single taxi taking Graynoldus back to our apartment building. Unfortunately, I had failed to check behind us. "Stupefy!" yelled a familiar voice behind Luna and I. Faster than I would've thought possible, Luna whipped around, wand out, and yelled "Protego!" The burst of red light collided with the translucent purple shield Luna created. There was a small explosion, but neither of us was harmed. I drew my wand from my pocket. The smoke cleared, and a Percy Weasley wearing an insane smile waited for us. "Luna!" called Percy "Get away from him!" Luna didn't move, but Percy didn't notice it at all. His focus was undivided and on me. "This is for Fred! Avada Kedavra!" I'm not sure which was more shocking; Percy Weasley, the biggest goodie-goodie I've ever met, using an Unforgivable Curse, or what I managed to do next. I remembered the first time Crabbe, Malfoy met. In Diagon Alley. I overheard Malfoy talking about his broomstick, a Nimbus seven I think it was. I only had a Baseline three, so Malfoy described what it was like to ride a broom like the Nimbus, and he promised one day he'd let me ride it. Malfoy and I ventured into the Pet Shop and saw a ragged and bruised boy cast aside with a huge man screaming bloody murder at him. That boy was Crabbe. Malfoy disappeared and brought his mom in, a woman named Narcissa. Narcissa jinxed the man and Crabbe threw himself at our feet, thanking us so sincerely that we had no choice. Crabbe made three. That memory filled me with happiness as the green lightning forked its way over to me. "Expecto Patronum" I said quietly. A giant bowhead whale burst from my wand and collided with the Killing Curse. The bowhead whale absorbed the curse and swam through the air as easily as it would've done with water. The holographic whale then slapped Percy across the street using its flukes (tail). He landed with a sound like was kind of like an egg cracking. He was dead before he hit the ground 


End file.
